Our Handsome Little Man

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The Mommy

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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year everyone! My boys didn't make it the whole night and are both snoozing in bed, but that is to be expected from my early birds :) I am definitely the night owl of the family and I really need to change that! I rang in the new year watching Storage Wars because I'm just cool like that! LOL I'm not much for going out and partying anymore though. I feel too old for it to be honest. Plus I don't really see the new year as a holiday tomorrow is going to be like any other day. The same problems, the same good things, pretty much nothing changes but the date which happens every new day anyhow.

We're not ones to do new year resolutions so we're not going to do that. Plus who really follows through with those anyhow? We have been discussing goals in our lives though. Especially with buying the new house, thinking about my hubby's retirement which is less than 10 years away and in reality that isn't too far off, me going to school and what to do afterwards, etc. We need to figure out where we want to live later in life and just where we want to see our lives go. And the new year is just a nice fresh start for all our goals. I like round easy ways to keep track of things and this will help us achieve our goals!

My goals for the new year are to financially fit. I want to get ourselves out of debt completely and start looking for our retirement home (which I think we know where we want to retire!) and to make sure we have a retirement plan in place which is hard to do when you're in debt! I want to have a solid budget in place with what we're making now so that anything that comes to us in the future will just go straight into savings and/or retirement fund.

I would like to finish school with my bachelors in the next year, it might take just over a year but the idea is to stay focus and be done soon. And decide if I'm going to find work once I'm done or just worry about a graduate degree (which I want to work on regardless if I get a job or not but it will depend on how much time I have devoted to it)

I want to get our home organized. To have everything its in place, no more boxes and anything of excess just to get rid of it. I'd like to have a good cleaning schedule down, know what needs to be paid when, and a fence up in our yard so we can garden. I want a nice garden going so we can buy less produce and to have a good meal plan down as well. I just want our home to run smoothly and stay that way.

My last goal is for myself. I want to be a better me. I talk about it all the time but never fully commit. I think my hubby is ready for it as well. I've gained so much weight and I'm definitely a stress eater and I need to replace that with the most healthy yummy things I can find. I'm not going to give up good tasting just to be healthy because why be miserable? I do want to make sure that its a life change and not a diet and something we can do as a family. I want to get more active and just have fun. I want to do things with my little man like geocaching and hiking because its fun and healthy. I just want a healthier and more fit lifestyle like we had before I got out of the Air Force. I mostly want to be healthy for my little man, he deserves a mommy who can run around with him and play sports! I would eventually like to start running again and get a half marathon in before we leave Florida! I'm hoping to get in shape this year so I can do that :) Big goals I know but achievable ones that don't necessarily have to be all done this year, but I will definitely get there! I am hoping my hubby will hold me accountable as well and ya'll can too!

My hubby has goals as well but those are his to share not mine but we have started a list so that can both look at it and see what we each want to achieve. I think it will help us be more accountable and we can help and encourage each other along the way.

So these are my current life goals not just for this year but to continue on with. If you do make a resolution I wish you the best as well as with any goals you may have and may you have the best 2014 possible!

Sunday, December 29, 2013

I don't remember if I posted that we bought a new house but we did! Yay us!! Woohoo lots of debt! LOL We're actually really happy and we moved in just in time to spend our first Christmas in our home. I was super excited about that and completely bummed about it all at the same time. We are not entirely finished unpacking (I take forever since I've decided to go through everything and get rid of all the unnecessary) so we don't entirely know where all the Christmas decorations are. That means we didn't get lights or stockings up this year, but we did get our little three foot tree up. I love our mini tree over a large one for some reason. Maybe because when we first got married we didn't have an apartment large enough to put up anything other than the mini one. I'm not entirely sure we'll ever use another tree but only time will tell.

Our little tree is missing a few of my favorite ornaments and a tree skirt because of the move, but we still loved it regardless.

Nathan still doesn't quite understand what Christmas is or who Santa is. Somehow he convinced himself that Santa comes and takes all your toys. How he got that into his little head I'll never understand! We have been trying to make him believe Santa brings you toys (even though we never intended in making Santa part of our traditions). He was pleasantly surprised to wake up Christmas morning and still have all his toys and presents under the tree. He was sad though that his elf had to leave. He has still been asking for his elf Peppermint Moose.

He loved his table!

Jake always has to be the center of attention!

Jake thought the wrapping paper was his gift lol

Spoiled hubby!

You can never go wrong with jewelry and cookbooks!

We also had a fantastic dinner later that day with our friends. I of course suck and didn't remember to take any pictures even though my camera was sitting out!!! We all had a great time, ate lots of yummy food, and hopefully next year I remember to take pics! I hope you all had a great Christmas!

I really wanted to get my little man a nice sturdy Lego table but man are those things pricey. Sure I could have gotten a cheaper plastic or particle board one for under a $100 but really wanted a nice sturdy one, so I decided I would make him one.

I first had to decide on how big I wanted it so I could start searching for a table and I decided a coffee size one would be perfect. We could add lego plates and make little roads for his cars to drive on. I just had to find a table that would be sturdy enough.

I found the table above on a for sale page for 10 bucks! I thought it was perfect!! Its super heavy and solid wood and super cheap! I will admit the blue knobs on it drove me absolutely insane and they definitely didn't match the finish so it was hard for me to imagine keeping them but we decided to in the end!

Above is the finish product. My hubby sanded it down for me and we decided black would be perfect. I will say I like the knobs on the black a whole lot better. We put a couple blue plates on the table for water and I used white duct tape to make the lines on the road. Please excuse the fact that it looks like a drunk city worker painted them on!! LOL

Needless to say it was a hit with little man when he got up Christmas morning! He still loves to play on it and loves when we join in and build things with him. His little friends love it as well and it will definitely get a lot of use!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

This past Saturday we had a fun filled day. Nathan's best little friend had her 3rd birthday. She had a bowling party on base and the kids loved it. They got to bowl, have pizza and cake, who could ask for anything more when you're three? It was a great time and the kids truly enjoyed it.

The neat thing about having your kid's birthday party at the bowling ally is that they set everything up and its very affordable. At Tyndall they supply the decorations, 2 lanes, a few pizza, unlimited drinks, and a gift for the kiddo.

the birthday girl

The cake...it looks great from a far....

for some reason Nathan was obsessed with the water fountain...at least he was hydrated right?

After an afternoon of bowling we headed to Bristol, Fl to go to Veterans Memorial Railroad to ride on one of their trains. They have the cutest small trains ever. They have an actual live coal steam engine that we waited in line forever to ride, but it was def worth it. Our little man was so excited over it! We really enjoy going to this little railway and is def better than any Thomas train ride we've been on so far! We will def go several more times while we live in Florida!! And its not too far so def a must see/do if you're in the area!

There was a live Santa show along the ride

Various displays and lights

A live Nativity which was beautiful

the other engine that was running that night as well

the engine we rode

Nathan is convinced that Santa comes and takes little kids toys (I still can't figure out why he believes that) so Santa left him a special gift in the car.